US Patent Issued to Reliance Worldwide on Feb. 17 for "Device and method for assembling components of a plumbing fitting" (American, Australian Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 17 -- United States Patent no. 12,553,555, issued on Feb. 17, was assigned to Reliance Worldwide Corp. (Atlanta).

"Device and method for assembling components of a plumbing fitting" was invented by William Vernon Kluss (Brisbane, Australia), Derres Catalano (Roswell, Ga.), Sai Kishore Ravisankar (Alpharetta, Ga.), Randy Graves (Atlanta), Eliana Pippen (Powder Springs, Ga.) and Samantha Kelly (New York).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A system for manufacturing a connector assembly includes a connector body, a retainer sleeve and a tool member. The tool member is acted upon by an actuating fixture to travel a distance relative to the connector body to press the retainer sle...